Showing posts with label knit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label knit. Show all posts

Sunday, March 06, 2016

Last Chance for a Slow Stitch Sunday with the Dowager Countess

Slow stitching on Sunday evening while spending an hour with the Dowager Countess of Grantham and everyone else at Downton Abbey has become my habit.

It sounds silly, but today I have been thinking about my need to create a new slow-stitch Sunday habit to replace it that feels as much of a perfect match. I am thinking about Sunday afternoon listening to classical music while stitching ... wonder if I can make that habit stick?

I haven't posted many Sunday slow stitching posts, because I have been slow knitting instead of something quilting-related and I appreciate that most of the followers of this blog are interested in quilting ... my current project is this hat, which is double knit on tiny size 2 needles which I also refer to as "toothpicks."




Double Knitting
Double knitting is a curious technique where you knit one stitch on the outside then one stitch facing the other direction on the inside.  if you are using two colors, as I am here, then you can easily see the outside/inside stitches alternating on the needle and you switch threads for each stitch ... like I said, it's slow-knitting. The result is a two-layer piece, which is only connected at the edge and wherever the yarns are switched to create the color-work pattern.

If you have followed this blog a while, you might guess that this project came out of the 365 Feathers project, and it did, but I ended up waiting until I was prepared to try something new and challenging.

Because I used the 16 inch circular needles prescribed in the pattern, I really can't tell if it is actually going to fit my 23-inch head when I'm through. It's a long, slow, leap-of-faith project for me.

The pattern is called Feather in my Cap.  There are only a few projects for it on Ralvery, including mine. Because I am knitting the cloche version of the pattern, I refer to this project as Feather in my Cloche.

Although I am knitting it gold-side out, to make it easier to see the stitches, I will likely wear it the other way 'round, brown with a gold feather. You can get a peek from the other side here.  I have a long, down filled brown coat and a camel-colored wool toggle coat and picked colors that I thought would work with both of them.


Double Knitting

I still have quite a ways to go and after the color work for the feather is done, it's going to be VERY BORING KNITTING which always slows me down ... maybe it will be ready by the time winter rolls around again. 

Does anyone else have a Downton Abbey habit they need to replace or a good idea for me of an anchor that will keep me slow stitching on Sundays

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Another Slow (Knit) Stitch Sunday

It's counter-intuitive, but the easier a knit pattern is, the more slowly I work myself through it ...

Sweater ProgressThe sleeves for the sweater I am knitting are seed stitch, which provides an interesting texture, but feels a little like Knit 2, Purl 2, Repeat forever and ever ... ad nauseum

The pattern is Helga, which is available for free on kitty.com –I have modified the pattern to make it a few inches longer and to knit the body and sleeves in the round to eliminate some seams ... the only thing I avoid more than boring knit patterns is sewing together knit garments ...

I have been itching to start hand-piecing a quilt block I designed, but I know I need to push myself to finish this ... so I will be knitting along with the ladies of Downton Abby tonight.

I hope to finish this and get to some quilt-related slow Sunday stitching soon.

Monday, January 04, 2016

Post-Holiday Re-entry into Normal (whatever that is)

Yesterday I woke up too early–from something that happened in a dream, I think. I was immediately wide awake, feeling well-rested and happy and knew I had been dreaming about something, but couldn't grab hold of anything that would help me remember what it was.  It must have been a good one. I wandered into the kitchen, fed the cats and made my morning late, decided it was too early and too cold and crawled back into my warm bed.

Out of (a bad) habit, I grabbed the iPad on my nightstand and checked for email ... and ended up chatting a bit with someone who plans to suspend disbelief and jump into the Old MacDonald's Mystery Sampler and quilt along with me.  Her vote of confidence reinforced my inexplicable happy, optimistic mood.

I quickly filled up my morning pages (journal), then turned on the TV for some breakfast television–I know, TV in bed, another bad habit–enjoyed an interview with Lily Tomlin on Sunday Morning and the luxury of staying in bed a little longer than I should.  I picked up my knitting–more on that later–and wasn't really paying attention to the TV when Sunday Morning became Face the Nation with Donald Trump doing his thing and provoking us all (OK, mostly women and especially Hillary Clinton).  Thank you, Donald, for that push out of bed. 

Migas with Black-eyed Pea SalsaWhen I returned to the kitchen to find breakfast, I glanced at the clock, saw that it was later than I thought and decided to make the effort to treat myself to brunch for one.

I had some cooked black-eyed peas left over from New Years day and some rarely-seen-in-my-house tortilla chips and bacon and decided to make the Homesick Texan's New Years Day Migas with Black-eyed Peas Salsa.

While the eggs were cooking, I was thinking how some recipes are like souvenirs from travels or experiences. I found the Homesick Texan's blog after my first trip to Quilt Festival in Houston. I had gone with a friend to Ninfa's for dinner and loved their "green sauce" so much that when I returned to Michigan, I went looking online for a recipe. I found it on the Homesick Texan, a blog written by a woman who was living in New York and recreating the foods she missed from home. I started following her blog, way back when.  I had never heard of migas (eggs scrambled with various things including strips of crispy tortilla strips) until I lived in Austin. She suggested this recipe for New Years brunch last year.

The calm of the day felt like a return to normal life after the holidays. As a bonus the sun was shining and the temperature had climbed to something above freezing.  I decided to run a quick couple of errands and come home and quilt.

UntitledI went to Santa Fe Quilting, looking for Michael Miller fabrics so I could make the next block in the Everything Old is New Again challenge for Modern Quilts Unlimited.

The traditional inspiration block this month is the Double Pinwheel.

I had a design idea I liked and walked into the quilt shop–the only one in town–planning to pick up Cotton Couture (solids) or some other Michael Miller fabric (a requirement for the challenge) in bright red, dark red and gold.

But, incredibly, there were hardly any Michael Miller fabrics in the shop. With the help of a friend from the guild who was working there, we went through the whole store, color by color, theme by theme and found a total of 8 to 10 bolts of ANY kind of Michael Miller fabric ... all but three–three that wouldn't play nicely with one another–were Fairy Frost. Those sparkly Fairy Frost fabrics just aren't me ... but since time I don't have enough time to order anything online or make the trek to Albuquerque or Las Vegas (NM) to continue the hunt, I will be making a glitzy, sparkly Double Pinwheel-inspired block for the challenge this month.

It all took so much longer than I thought it would to look through all those bolts and the result was disappointing, but that, too, was somehow a return to normal. For whatever reason, I rarely find what I am looking for at the only quilt shop in town.

I quickly made the trip to the Trader Joe's to pick up a couple odd things I needed for a recipe I wanted to try, but couldn't find at the nearby chain grocery: fennel, preserved lemon, dried apricots ... can you guess what they might become?

By the time I got home and put things away, I had run out of steam, probably because really, I didn't get enough sleep before I woke up feeling all happy and rested.  My plans for dinner were simplified. I didn't have the creative or physical energy to settle into a quilting project afterward, so my Sunday evening Slow Stitches were of the knit and purl variety.

I am working on a sweater, made from yarn reclaimed from a commercial sweater I couldn't resist in the store a few years ago. It was on sale and I bought even though it was probably two sizes too large.  I did wear it for a while, but ultimately decided it was just TOO oversized and I unravelled it and put the yarn in my stash until the right project came along.  When I saw the Helga pullover sweater in the new patterns for winter on Knitty.com, I knew it was the one.  My gauge swatch was exactly what was needed for the pattern, so I jumped in.

Never I Have Ever ...I was on a roll, happily knitting the 3 inch ribbing at the bottom of the sweater, until I noticed this.

Eagle-eye knitters will spot that I have done that thing that you're always supposed to guard against when you are knitting in the round–twisting the stitches when you join them into a circle.  For the non-knitters, I found myself knitting a mobius, which can work if you're making a scarf (AKA infinity scarf), but not a sweater.

So I ripped it all out and CAREFULLY, started again one evening–wrapped in a cozy flannel quilt with the company of my ever-helpful, textile-loving cats.

Knitting with Johnny and Grace Hopper
I snapped this iPhone photo to capture the moment.

The new year prompts us to make resolutions, plan for the future and reflect on what aspects of our lives are worth bringing forward with us as we move forward in life and blogging and which things, people, habits are maybe best left behind.

A few months ago, I wasn't sure I would bring the Block Lotto forward with me in 2016–obviously, ultimately I decided it was worth it.

Last weekend, I knew I needed to get back to the practice of Slow Sunday Stitching ... the return of Downton Abby last night was a nice bit of synchronicity with that practice.

After my twisted start, things have been progressing quite quickly–or as quickly as a knit with all that cabling can ...  The front and back (knit together in the round) are done and I'm now working on the first sleeve, which I am also knitting in the round–more carefully joined to avoid the mobius affect.

Knitting Progress


I suppose this rambling, steam-of-consciousness post is also a sure sign of a return to normal (for me) after the holidays ;-)

If you have read this far ... I'm sorry.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Two Days Later

2 Days Later

That first frosting of snow has turned into a real winter storm.   Under it's influence, I pulled out some flannels and started making a quick, snugly quilt ... which I cannot share with you for at least a week because I'm using the December Block Lotto pattern in it's design.  (Any sneak peekers may get a sneak peek email with my progress soon ;-)


For a Knit Hat ...The dramatic drop in temps also inspired me to knit a warm wool hat. I've been knitting much longer than I've been a quilter, but this one is knit using a new-to-me technique and I'm a little intimidated. Sometimes I can be a bit of a scaredy cat.

It will be my slow stitch Sunday project today.



Sunday, November 10, 2013

The Thing About Knitting

A long time ago, a co-worker explained to me that she chooses to knit, rather than sew because if something doesn't fit or you don't like it, you can unravel a knit garment and start over. I was recently reminded of Miriam and her attitude, when I picked up a long-forgotten sock project a couple weeks ago, thinking it would be a good one to take along on a trip.

Knitting on airplanesSocks are a perfect for knitting on planes, both because of their small size and because no one feels threatened by the toothpick-sized needles you use to make them.

The patten was an easy one to pick up again: Jaywalkers by Grumperina. The Zig-Zag pattern is really pretty ingenious, easily remembered and quick to knit.

I had to laugh at the archeological clues in the project bag of the origins of the project: a business card from someone I met on a train from Lansing to Chicago (to attend the Spring Quilt Festival when it was there), a package from some tea I had enjoyed during a sleep/nap study and the original wrapper that identified the yarn and the shop where I'd bought the interesting hand-dyed yarn.  I didn't really think about why I had stopped knitting, but happily picked it up again on the flight from Santa Fe to Dallas and Dallas to Houston.

A completed pairI finished up that first sock during Quilt Festival and cast on stitches for the second at breakfast on Sunday, to prepare for the trip home. While the first sock literally took YEARS to finish, the second was completed in 4 days.

And then I sort of remembered what soured me on the project way back whenever it was. As much as I loved the yarn and the knit patterns, I didn't like the socks on my feet.

And so while I might count this as a finish, I'll be spending some time slow UN-stitching them this Sunday.

I'm not sure if they'll become socks in a different style or perhaps a scarf or little shawl.  I did fall in love with the subtle color combinations in the yarn and have started to look at pattern ideas so that I can pick it up and start knitting something with it again soon.


Detail of yarn colors and stitches

This yarn has always said autumn to me ... maybe I'll actually finish something that stays finished before winter arrives. 

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Lazy Sunday Knitting


Knitting outside in the SunIt seems a little odd to sit outside on a hot sunny day and knit a scarf for winter ... but that's where you'd find me today.

And my plan for Sunday evening is TV, more knitting–inside with my feet up and likely a cat on my lap :-)

I chose to make the longer version of the pattern and it seems like this scarf will go on forever ... the making of it is definitely a good fit for slow stitching Sunday.

The end is in sight.  Next weekend, I hope to be back to stitching on fabric.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Record High Temperatures and Yet ...

New YarnIt makes no sense and yet I feel like knitting.

I picked up this yarn earlier this week and am going to make this scarf ... to be worn much much later this year.  (That gives me a lot of time to finish it, right?)

Maybe it's because the past week was Knit In Public Week.  I didn't see anyone publicly knitting in Santa Fe, but I carried this project around with me and managed a few public stitches.

My plan for Slow Stitch Sunday is to take this project out onto the deck this afternoon, with a big glass of ice tea and make some good progress with knitted stitches.  How about you?

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Finished?

When you do you consider a project finished?

Is a quilt finished when the top is complete and it's sent off to a longarm quilter or added to the to-be-quilted pile? When it's quilted and bound, label and hanging sleeve added? This little quilt, pieced in December is now, as Amy once called it, "done, done."

Starry Skies and Shoo Flies

For more details about this little quilt, and measurements for making your own mini-Tall Shoo Flies, see my post on the Block Lotto today.

Is a knit project finished when the knitting is done? When it's sewn together? How about when you wear it for the first time?  I finished the cowl to match my Aran hat last weekend–unfortunately, as a feared, the  yarn requirements in the pattern were wrong and so there will be no matching fingerless mitts.  I am otherwise happy with how it turned out and have been wearing it out in the cold and snow this week.  The cable pattern was easy to remember and fun to knit.

Hat and Cowl Detail of Cable Pattern

Last Fall, I finished another knit, the lacy mystery beret, Meret. When I failed to find a right-sized plate or platter in my kitchen to use to block it, I tucked it away ... until earlier this week, when I was making a stir fry and looked at the cover of my wok in a new away. It was perfectly sized.  After blocking, I added a ribbon inside to keep the edge of my extra-slouchy beret the correct size. Now, this one also feels REALLY finished and ready to wear. 

Blocking on the Wok Lid Beret with Head Size Ribbon Slouchy Beret - "Finished"

I'm joining the link list on Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?  Check out how productive quilters in blog land have been. 

Friday, February 08, 2013

I've Been Knitting

I've made some knitting progress this week–some of it while waiting for the tow truck and riding in the tow truck (until the sun set and I lost the light).

  Knit Progress

I'm not sure I'll add the pompom to the top of the hat which is otherwise finished–I'm thinking about making some icord and using it to tie the sides together at the top of the hat.

I may not make the fingerless mittens because it looks like it will take twice as much yarn to finish the cowl than the amount listed in the pattern.   (Don't you hate when that happens ... and you don't have any more yarn to account for the difference?)

It's what's on my needles today. Follow the link to the post on Patchwork Times to see what others are knitting.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Switching Gears: New Projects in-Progress

This week, after finishing up the scrappy comfort quilt, I started quilting the first of the four little quilts I pulled out of the trunk last weekend and put on the design wall.

  Taped quilting design

The little shoo-fly quilt is so busy, I decided to quilt the starry background in simple diagonal parallel lines with black thread.  I marked the first seam with blue painter's tape, adding angles at the outer border. 

quilting parallel linesI used the width of the foot and the bar on the walking foot to quilt seams approximately 1/2 inch apart in the background, skipping over the shoo-flies and green border.

Johnny helps trim threads
Last night, Johnny inspected the quilting and helped me look for any threads I missed while I trimmed ... or maybe he was just trying to convince me it was time to go upstairs.

I also started a new knit project–here's a photo of the project and the gauge swatch I started last night.




Gauge Swatch

I've been in the mood to knit cables and this little book, Hats–A Knitter's Dozen, grabbed my attention when I visited Village Wools in Albuquerque while my sewing machine was at the mechanic. I hope this heathery blue-gray yarn will be light-colored enough that the lovely aran patterns will show.  The yarn shop was lovely and inviting.  If it were closer, I think I could spend a lot of time exploring all the books and patterns.

Inviting corner at Village Wools

I'm linking to Freshly Pieced's WIP Wednesday

Monday, October 08, 2012

What is it about October?

With October comes Socktober, Octoberfest, Blogtoberfest and other events, ad nauseum.

I am a little bothered by some of the "it's October so I must blog every day even if I have nothing to say" posts, but the pretty Sockober knitting I am seeing in blogland has prompted me to pull some sock yarn out of my stash, along with an old, straight-forward pattern.  After two days of TV knitting at night, I'm one sock done, one to go.


Simple Sox 

The yarn is Classic Elite Yarns Alpaca Sox; the 60% alpaca yarn is so soft, I can't wait for the first cold day I wear these on a test run ... but first, I need to finish that second sock.

The basket is intended for stitching (notice the clever rod for holding thread spools, but it's also right-sized for small knitting projects (and easily put on a high shelf or in a drawer or closet to keep the curious cats at bay.

Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Feeling Fall-ish

With the first cold snap of Fall, I feel the urge to knit, make soups and roast vegetables,  get outside and enjoy the outdoors during the day and curl up in the evening with a pot of tea and some hand-stitching.

Last night, I finished this beret. It's a quick knit from some wool-cashmere yarn (Debbie Bliss Cashmerino) in my stash using the Meret Mystery Beret pattern.

The fit is pretty good, but I'll probably add a ribbon on the inside to maintain the correct head size and keep the edge from stretching. I also need to block it so lace pattern will be more apparent-last night I tried a large dinner plate and a round serving platter and neither was quite large enough.

Last week, I finally sewed down the binding on an old quilt project and am basting the layers of an older one so it can be finally finished and enjoyed–photos soon.

The makings for vegetarian stock are in the fridge along with a butternut squash.

Are you feeling Fall-ish?  What does that inspire in you?

Sunday, June 12, 2011

The Color of the Weekend is YELLOW

Daisy ChainYellow is the color for June in the rainbow scraps challenge. The most challenging thing for me about working with yellow scraps is that, like others, I just don't have many of them.

I enjoyed making the small pink yo-yos last month (for a project that is not yet finished) so I thought I'd make some yellow flowers using the Clover tool–purchased at a quilt show a long, long time ago, but never used . . .  until now.

Here are my first efforts. 

DSCN6839


Auditioning the Hat BandI was thinking of black-eyed Susans when I added big black beads to the centers . . . even though these flowers really look nothing like them.

My idea was to chain them together and use them as a hatband for a wide brimmed straw hat that I'm cleaning up and re-working, but once they were in place, I didn't like it :-(

I'll wait for some new inspiration.

While I like the Clover tool, I don't think I'll be makng more flowers from quilting cotton.  I think it would be wonderful to use with a silk chiffon, a handkerchief linen or other lightweight fabric.   The flowers finish around 1 3/4 inch wide.  I also bought the smaller 1 1/4 flower tool.

Grace HelpedOn a more successful note, I removed the blocking wires and T-pins from my shawl (Grace helped) and I am quite happy with the result.

Finished Shawl on the Balcony rail

World Wide Knit in Public Day is being celebrated this week–I haven't heard of any public knitting events near me, but I'll be casting on a new project soon and being on the lookout for kindred knitters.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Pay No Attention to the COLOR in these Photos

Blocking the Swallowtail ShawlThe real news is that the extra ball of yarn arrived a couple days ago and it seems to be a close enough match, despite coming from a different dye lot.

I finished knitting last night and blocked the shawl this afternoon. The brightly colored modular interlocking rubber mats under the shawl really challenged my camera . . . but I still wanted to share my progress.

The biggest challenge of knitting this pattern in the Aran weight yarn was the P5 together that makes the "nubs" in the Lilies of the Valley pattern. Once I developed a technique for that stitch, it went very smoothly.

Here's a detail photo showing some of those lovely bobbly "nubs" and the final lace pattern.



I'm not sure if the knitting police would consider this "done," but I'm counting it as a finish ... and maybe, since the shawl was knit from some leftover skeins and the color for this month's Rainbow Scrap Challenge is yellow, it can count as a challenge project, too ;-) 

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

If It's Tuesday, It Must Be ...

Flowering Trees in the Neighborhood. . . talk to recruiters day.  I'm not complaining–job hunting is much easier when the phone is ringing.  I suspect that, on Monday, staffing agencies start their week by looking at their new requirements and looking through resumes for a match; then on Tuesdays, the recruiters reach out and touch all the people behind those resumes.

On the job front, I AM talking to lots of recruiters and interviewing with interesting companies–both on the phone and in person–but . . . am beginning to have that always a bridesmaid, never the bride feeling as the feedback continues to be that they liked me for the position and the decision was close, but . . . they went with another candidate.

Bird nesting atop spikesThis morning, before it hotted up to what is expected to be another record-breaking high, I went for a walk to the post office and the grocery store. I dug out a straw hat with a wide brim and thought about how I will rework it a little for this summer.  The Lantana trees near my house are already in full bloom and looking gorgeous.

Outside the post-office, under the eaves, on top of spikes clearly intended to discourage nest building, there were several nests like these–look close and you'll see mama sitting atop that mess, guarding her eggs.

She made me wonder if all species have the ability to be stubborn?

She also made me think of a friend who recently told me in an email that she hasn't yet turned on only air conditioner–a window air conditioner with a potted plant on top of it ... a Carolina wren made a nest in a potted plant.  She's hoping for cool weather because it's going to be a while before the eggs hatch and before the babies fledge.

Seriously, doesn't it seem a little bit beyond instinctual and just plain stubborn, birds taking on man and building construction when they choose to build their own homes?

I confess to spending most of my time in air-conditioned comfort . . . though it does seem to be a little bit crazy to be knitting when the weather is like this.  

Actually, the knitting temporarily stopped on Friday because, even though I have been knitting with fingers crossed . . . on Thursday night, I ran out of yarn . . . with 10 long rows to go. Even unblocked, I think it's looking pretty wonderful.


The pattern did say that I would need a bit more yarn than I had, but I was using a different weight yarn than any of the options listed on the pattern and someone on Ravelry who had made the same pattern using exactly the same yarn, said she used less–in fact exactly the same number of skeins as me . . . so while I thought it would be close, I believed I would make it. 

Thursday night, when the yarn ran out, I looked online and only found a single skein, on clearance.  Miraculously, it was the same color, though undoubtedly a different dye lot.  The shipping was almost twice the cost of the sale-priced skein of yarn.  I decided to sleep on it. 

Friday, I woke up with an idea of how I could shorten the last border, which is at the top in this photo,  and make it work. I unknit several rows and then re-knit them.  I knew I wasn't going to like the proportions, but I persevered.  But I didn't account for how much yarn the "elastic bind off" was going to take and when I had a little more than half of the three hundred and some stitches bound off . . . it once again became clear that I didn't have enough yarn.   And so, once again, I unraveled the bound off stitches and put everything back on the needles and then backed out my foreshortened last border, reknit the pattern as written as far as I could go and . . . called the yarn shop in Rhode Island that has the last skein of this rough silk yarn. 

As a result of my experimentation, I know I want to knit the last border as written because it creates the swallow-tail that gives this shawl it's name.  So even if the new yarn, when it arrives, is a bad match, I will likely use it . . . and overdye the whole thing to conceal the mis-matched dye lots.

I suppose I'm being a little stubborn, too, and really want to knit the shawl as written no matter what (even with yarn from mis-matched dye lots ;-)

Until then, I am thinking about the next summer knit . . . I think I have some cotton yarn in my stash that might be perfect for the Boutique Sweater that Crazy Aunt Purl has been blogging about. It's another one of those knits that are right for the air conditioned summer environment.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Working by Hand

When I fall out of the habit of handwork, I forget how calming and meditative it can be ... until I have a reason to sit and stitch.

I labelled the recently finished tote as a "knitting bag," in part, to inspire me to pull something out of my yarn stash and knit something.

New Knit

This is a rugged version of Evelyn Clark's Swallowtail shawl. The yarn, Reynold's Mandalay, is an Aran weight silk (which, for non-knitters, is a pretty chunky yarn). I am thinking the finished silk shawl will be the perfect summer wrap for movie theaters and other over-air conditioned venues. You can see photos of finished Swallowtails and get an idea of how this might look when it's finished and blocked on this Knit-a-long blog

Pink Yo YosI was enjoying the knitting so much that I wanted to find something to hand stitch and decided to add some Yo yos-as-flowers to my pink basket blocks. The Clover Yo-Yo makers make it easy to sit and turn a handful of scraps into delicious little circles. I used the African porcupine quill to arrange the folds in the small yo-yos–a tip I learned years ago in a ribbon flowers workshop with Candace Kling.  It's a great tool to use for manipulating fabrics when fingers are too fat.

All the positive bio-feedback from hand-work had me thinking about what's next . . . until I remembered the pre-printed "wholecloth" pillow-sized project I bought from Sew Batik at the Dallas quilt show a couple months ago.  It's been years since I picked up any hand-quilting.  I'm long overdue and looking forward to it.

Sunday, January 09, 2011

I'm ready ...

Today I made veggie stock and am ready for all the soups I know I'm going to want to make this week and I finished these.  (Coincidentally, when I blogged about my veggie stock it was almost exactly a year ago.)

Finished mitts for me

They are actually predicting snow for Dallas ... here it will "just" be hard freezes at night and not very highs during the days. (It's kind of amazing how quickly one can adapt to warm weather ;-)

And now that I have made the PERFECT variation of the Braided Mitts pattern for me and the weather is going to be frosty, I am ready to knit something a little more substantial.

Friday, January 07, 2011

Slimmer, Smaller, X-small and Just Right

Smaller Braided MittsA couple days before Christmas, the weather became a little bit frosty and I remembered some fingerless gloves that Julie had made and written about a couple months earlier.  At the time, she was asking if they would be worn by people in Wisconsin in winter . . . while they might not work so well for Winter in Wisconsin, as I was walking across the office park to get a warming latté in the cafe in another building, I was thinking they were PERFECT for cold winter days in Austin, Texas.

I contacted to Julie to find the pattern--I decided they were a great last minute Christmas idea for a friend.  Julie told me I could find Tera Johnson's Braided Mitts on Ravelry and suggested that I use a smaller needle because they were on the large side.  I pulled some nice wool out of my stash and started knitting ...

I never finished the first pair because, even before I had added the thumb and the ribbing at the top, it was clear they were going to be STILL way too big for me and I knew they'd never work for my petite friend whose hands had to be at least as small as mine. 

So when I saw my friend over the holiday, I showed her photos from the Ravelry site and looked at everyone's Braided Mitts projects and decided on a color and yarn.  Then we traced her hand, mitten style, so I'd have something to use to compare as I reworked the pattern.While I waited for the yarn I ordered for her (Debbie Bliss Cashmerino in Grape--a dark red-violet), I worked on making the pattern fit.

I felt a little like Goldilocks, first making a slimmer pair from a tweedy brown wool ... that felt too long, then making a smaller pair (in the photo above), which was OK for me, but still too large for Charisse, then making the extra small pair from the grape yarn.

Braided Mitts in three sizes

It's hard to see the pattern in the dark yarns, but they are all the same, with the single braided cable on the top.

Tonight I am meeting Charisse and another friend after work ... fingers crossed that the "slimmer" brown tweedy pair and the X-small grape pair fit. The timing, at least, is good. Temps are predicted to drop dramatically over the weekend and stay there for a couple weeks. I have a feeling that I'll have an opportunity to wear sweaters and coats that have been too heavy for Texas.

Braided Mitts - one more pairI couldn't resist ordering a ball of the luscious Cashmerino yarn for me, too ... so I'll knit one more pair for me, tweak the pattern slightly and have a pair that will be "just right."  I'll be tucking this into my bag and working them up quickly.  I figure once the cold weather hits, I'll REALLY be in the mood to knit.

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Brandywine Shawl - Almost Finished

I didn't finish with the Olympics on Sunday. I finished the knitting last night. I'm waiting for the arrival of the blocking wires I ordered to block the shawl and call it done.

This knit is a story of woulda', shoulda', coulda' . . .


If I woulda' started knitting sooner, I woulda' finished before the Olympics end.  I completed the project in 7 days and won this cool Knitting Champion 2010 Gold Medal, courtesy of the Yarn Harlot



Brandywine ShawlI shoulda' known better than to park my knitting on the chair for a minute while I checked on something on the computer.  I was distracted for more than a minute and when I returned to my knitting, I found Johnny Be Good stretched out on top of it.  When I picked up the knitting it was curiously wet.  I discovered the Johnny had been chewing the circular knitting needle (probably) and gnowed through the knitting in a handful of places.  As I was ripping back to before the yarn breaks, I saw an opportunity to correct an early mistake and before long, my shawl project looked like this. Yes, I did.  I ripped out more than 100 rows and started over. Two days later, I had re-knit and caught up to where I was before that moment of carelessness.

I still probably coulda' finished before the closing ceremony if, when I was on the home stretch, I didn't decide to drop a few stitches in the lace band for a more than a few rows to try to fix another niggling mistake.  This pattern wasn't difficult and I didn't think I needed to consider using a lifeline, but if I had, I wouldn't have spent an entire evening playing with the dropped stitches and then, after I was unsuccessful, ripping out several 8 row repeats when I only a few to go. 

It's been a while since I picked up a pair of knitting needles . . . and I'm afraid it showed in my stumbles with this project. But it's done and I know that after it's blocked, I'll wear it a lot.

Brandywine Shawl

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Really Knitting ... and It's about Time

If I were a speed skater, I would have been disqualified for a couple false starts.

If I were a bobsledder I wouldn't finish well because of my slow start.

Yarn from my stashI even swatched and started and stopped one more time–with a yarn that I knew had less than the required yardage for that beautiful shawl pattern.

Then, I did a little stash diving one last time and came up with this Alpaca Sox yarn ... of which I had twice as much as I should need.  I cast on last night.

It seems unlikely that I'll finish in time for the closing ceremony in Vancouver . . . but after a few stumbles, I think I've finally found the rhythm of this pattern.  I already am thinking of making another in white cotton for summer.

You can't really appreciate it before it's blocked and the triangles along the edge and lacy pattern are revealed, but here's an in-progress photo. (The yarn photo has more accurate color).


Knit in Progress

I think this will be the project that prompts me to go looking for a yarn shop with some blocking wires.
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